Chapter 314 - Find An Exit

"Generals! Cough... Ahsoka! Brain, Tech! Cough! Cough... Can anyone hear me?!"

No answer came from the darkness around him. They were either unconscious or dead, and he didn't like to think about the second option. What he had to do now was get up, and look for them, as well as a way to get out of wherever he was. Of course, his comlink had broken when he fell, so he couldn't even contact them.

Feeling his left leg with his hands, Dageer found out it was broken in two spots. His head was also throbbing with pain, and his entire body was sore. Judging by the chest pain he was feeling when exhaling, he had at least one or two cracked ribs, although not broken. Even with his willpower, he wouldn't be able to stand up by himself. The mind wanted to, but the body couldn't.

Looking around, all he found were pieces on clanckers. Their E-5s were too short to work as a crutch. His own DC-15A was nowhere to be seen. In the end, after a lot of stumbling and crawling around, Dageer found a cabinet that belonged to the Nemodian. With a few slashes of his vibroblade - the only weapon he still had, since it was strapped to his back when he fell - he made a rudimentary crutch.

"Ugh..."

Groaning in pain, he stood up, chose a direction, and started walking. Before leaving, he didn't forget to pick up one of the droids' blasters. He would feel n.a.k.e.d without a weapon.

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Brain grabbed his head in pain. It was still buzzing from the explosion, and following tremors. He had hit his head multiple times, and his helmet was the sole reason he was alive. The result was that it was now all bashed in and cracked.

A sharp pain on his back when he tried to move told him that he had either broken or dislocated something. Still, he could be considered lucky. Several of his brothers had died, while many were gravely wounded. Some of the unluckiest ones had ended up under giant rocks, and died shortly after.

"Stay still, Brain, let me have a look."

"Go see the others first, Three-four. And don't worry about me, I wouldn't be able to move even if I wanted to."

"Okay."

The medic stepped away, miraculously unharmed after everything that had happened. Meanwhile, Brain was looking around, taking note of everyone who was still alive, and searching for Dageer. His commander and Tech had been the closest to the explosion, and there was no way to tell whether they were still alive or not.

"Anyone still has a working comlink?"

Several heads shook negatively. Brain sighed. Of course there weren't. It would be too easy otherwise, and he had long learned that when something could go wrong, it would.

"All right, then. What about the Jedis? Any idea where they are?"

"No clue, Brain. We all got separated when we fell in... Whatever this is. But Commander Cody is here."

Gritting his teeth, Brain turned around to where Fives' voice was coming from, and saw Commander Cody unconscious on the floor, his right arm bent unnaturally, and his head wrapped in a bandage that was already becoming red.

Seeing that he was the highest in command there, Brain quickly started yelling orders. He wasn't Hell Squad's second-in-command for nothing.

He told the clones around him to take care of the wounded - which they had been doing from the start - and ordered the troopers who only had light injuries to go searching for others.

"Be careful. If you find others, bring them here, and if you can't, come back as quickly as possible to call for help. And don't get lost."

"Roger that."

"Got it."

"Understood."

Seeing his orders being carried out, Brain laid back on the ground, turned off the flashlight on his broken helmet, and closed his eyes to wait for Three-four.

"Where are you, commander?"

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"Agh... Who is there?"

Stumbling his away through the darkness, Dageer eventually saw a green light. As he got closer, he recognized one of Ahsoka's lightsabers, and her voice.

"Commander Dageer, kid."

"Dageer! Thank the Force. I'm stuck here."

The padawan was on the ground, half-buried under rocks, pebbles, and sand. One of her hands was holding a lightsaber, while the other - and the arm connected to it - was beneath a piece of metal, from one of the Separatist transports.

"Let me see what I can do, ma'am. But I'm not in a very good shape."

Ignoring the pain from his leg, Dageer laid his back against one of the walls, for support, and grabbed the piece of metal. As soon as he moved it, a groan escaped Ahsoka's mouth.

"Careful. I think my arm is broken."

"Try to push it using your powers, Commander Tano. I will pull. On three. One... Two... Three! Ugh!"

After a few seconds, the debris moved. Dageer's arms trembled, and his vision started going black, because of the effort and his wound, but eventually, Ahsoka was freed.

"You aren't looking too good, Dageer. Are you sure you can walk?"

"Haha... You aren't in a good shape either, kid. We each got our broken limbs, don't worry about me too much. I've been through worse."

The padawan let out a dry laugh, and supported Dageer with her good arm, letting the other hang uselessly at her side.

"Do you know where Cell and Metal are? They were near you when that rift..."

"We are here, commander!"

He hadn't even finished speaking when Tech's voice rang out. The clone came out of the darkness, following the light that came from Dageer's helmet. He too had a broken arm, but apart from that, he seemed okay.

"How are you, Tech? I could have used your help to lift that thing."

"Sorry, sir. I only woke up because of the noise you made. Metal, Cell, Rex, Kyp, and Aeon are still unconscious. Guts and Harv are dead."

"Trapper is dead too. And who knows how many others. But at least that Separatist bastard died too."

Ahsoka was too tired to care about how Dageer treated the dead Nemodian. She was more interested in how they had ended up on their current predicament.

"Do you think he knew that would happen?"

"I doubt it, ma'am. He just wanted to destroy the intel, to keep us from getting our hands on it. It must have been really important, if he was willing to sacrifice himself. This hole was probably just caused by the tremors."

"If we don't find an exit soon, he will have his revenge. Wounded like we are, I don't think we can climb up."

Tech looked up for the first time, to find only darkness.

"I don't think climbing up is a good idea. We can't have fallen too far, otherwise we would have all been dead. If we can't see any light, not even stars, then this... Rift... Must have closed up again."

"We will think of that later. Now, Dageer, Tech, wake up the others. I will search for my other lightsaber. We can't be the only ones that survived. First of all, let's find the others."

"Yes, Commander Tano. You heard her, Tech, wake them up. No sleeping on the job."

"Haha... Cough... Cough!"